Learn Hangul in a day

Hangul is an alphabet of 24 basic letters, and it was designed to be learned quickly. One focused day is enough to read any Korean syllable slowly and correctly. Reading at speed, and understanding what you read, are separate projects that start the day after.

A note on spelling: the official romanisation is Hangeul (한글), while English dictionaries mostly write Hangul. Both are the same word. All romanisation on this page follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, the system used on road signs and in passports in South Korea.

Who invented Hangul, and when

King Sejong the Great, fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, created the alphabet in 1443 and had it published in 1446 in a document called 훈민정음 (Hunminjeongeum), "the correct sounds for the instruction of the people". It was meant to let ordinary Koreans write their own language without years of training in Chinese characters, and South Korea still celebrates it every 9 October as Hangul Day.

The shapes are not arbitrary. The basic consonants were drawn after the position of the tongue, lips and throat when you say them, and related sounds share a shape: add a stroke to ㄱ (g) and you get the stronger ㅋ (k).

How many letters are in the Korean alphabet?

There are 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels, 24 letters in all. Combinations of these give 5 double consonants and 11 compound vowels, so a full chart shows 40 signs. You only have to memorise 24 shapes; the rest are built from them.

The 14 basic consonants

Letter	Name	Romanisation (start / end of syllable)	Sound hint
ㄱ	기역 giyeok	g / k	a soft g, between "go" and "kite"
ㄴ	니은 nieun	n / n	n as in "no"
ㄷ	디귿 digeut	d / t	a soft d, between "do" and "to"
ㄹ	리을 rieul	r / l	a quick tongue flap at the start, l at the end
ㅁ	미음 mieum	m / m	m as in "me"
ㅂ	비읍 bieup	b / p	a soft b, between "bat" and "pat"
ㅅ	시옷 siot	s / t	s as in "sun"; sounds like "sh" before ㅣ
ㅇ	이응 ieung	silent / ng	no sound at the start, "ng" as in "song" at the end
ㅈ	지읒 jieut	j / t	a soft j, between "jam" and "cham"
ㅊ	치읓 chieut	ch / t	ch with a puff of air
ㅋ	키읔 kieuk	k / k	k with a puff of air
ㅌ	티읕 tieut	t / t	t with a puff of air
ㅍ	피읖 pieup	p / p	p with a puff of air
ㅎ	히읗 hieut	h / t	h as in "hat"

The 10 basic vowels

Letter	Romanisation	Sound hint
ㅏ	a	"a" in "father"
ㅑ	ya	"ya" in "yard"
ㅓ	eo	"o" in British "hot", mouth open, lips not rounded
ㅕ	yeo	the same with y in front, like "yaw" cut short
ㅗ	o	"o" in "more", lips rounded
ㅛ	yo	"yo" in "yo-yo"
ㅜ	u	"oo" in "moon"
ㅠ	yu	"you"
ㅡ	eu	say "oo" with the lips spread flat, not rounded
ㅣ	i	"ee" in "see"

The logic is visible: a second short stroke adds a y. ㅏ is a, ㅑ is ya; ㅗ is o, ㅛ is yo.

Double consonants

Letter	Romanisation	Sound hint	Example
ㄲ	kk	tense k, no puff of air	꿈 kkum, dream
ㄸ	tt	tense t	딸 ttal, daughter
ㅃ	pp	tense p	빵 ppang, bread
ㅆ	ss	tense, sharp s	쌀 ssal, uncooked rice
ㅉ	jj	tense j	짜다 jjada, to be salty

Korean therefore has three versions of several consonants: plain (ㄱ), aspirated (ㅋ) and tense (ㄲ). English ears hear all three as "k" at first. This is normal and it passes with listening.

Compound vowels

Letter	Built from	Romanisation	Sound hint
ㅐ	ㅏ + ㅣ	ae	"e" in "bed"
ㅒ	ㅑ + ㅣ	yae	"ye" in "yes"
ㅔ	ㅓ + ㅣ	e	"e" in "bed" (in Seoul today, the same as ㅐ)
ㅖ	ㅕ + ㅣ	ye	"ye" in "yes"
ㅘ	ㅗ + ㅏ	wa	"wa" in "wander"
ㅙ	ㅗ + ㅐ	wae	"we" in "wet"
ㅚ	ㅗ + ㅣ	oe	"we" in "wet"
ㅝ	ㅜ + ㅓ	wo	"wo" in "wonder"
ㅞ	ㅜ + ㅔ	we	"we" in "wet"
ㅟ	ㅜ + ㅣ	wi	"wee"
ㅢ	ㅡ + ㅣ	ui	eu gliding quickly into i

How syllable blocks are built

Hangul letters are not written in a row. They are stacked into square blocks, one block per syllable, and the blocks are read left to right. Three rules cover everything:

1. Every block starts with a consonant. If the syllable starts with a vowel sound, the silent placeholder ㅇ fills the slot: 아 is a.
2. Upright vowels (ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅣ) stand to the right of the first consonant. Flat vowels (ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ) sit underneath it.
3. A final consonant, if there is one, goes at the bottom. It is called 받침 (batchim), "support".

Block	Parts	Reading
가	ㄱ + ㅏ	ga
고	ㄱ + ㅗ	go
강	ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅇ	gang, river
곰	ㄱ + ㅗ + ㅁ	gom, bear
과	ㄱ + ㅘ	gwa
한	ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ	han
글	ㄱ + ㅡ + ㄹ	geul

Put the last two together and you have read 한글, Hangeul.

Final consonants (batchim) and the seven final sounds

Almost any consonant can be written at the bottom of a block, but at the end of a word only seven sounds are actually pronounced. The others collapse into the nearest of the seven, and final stops are cut off without releasing any air.

Final sound	Written with	Examples
k	ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ	국 guk, soup; 부엌 bueok, kitchen; 밖 bak, outside
n	ㄴ	산 san, mountain
t	ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ	옷 ot, clothes; 낮 nat, daytime; 꽃 kkot, flower; 밭 bat, field
l	ㄹ	물 mul, water
m	ㅁ	밤 bam, night
p	ㅂ, ㅍ	집 jip, house; 앞 ap, front
ng	ㅇ	방 bang, room

Some blocks carry two final consonants, as in 닭 (dak, chicken) or 없다 (eopda, not to exist). Standing alone, only one of the two is pronounced. Leave the details for week two.

Sound-change rules you meet on day one

Korean spelling keeps the shape of each word stable, and pronunciation adjusts where blocks meet. A handful of changes turn up immediately:

Rule	What happens	Written	Pronounced like	Romanised
Linking	A final consonant moves into a following block that starts with silent ㅇ	한국어, Korean language	한구거	Hangugeo
Linking restores the real sound	The collapsed final gets its own sound back when it links	옷이, clothes (subject)	오시	osi
Nasalisation	Final k, t, p before ㄴ or ㅁ become ng, n, m	감사합니다, thank you	감사함니다	gamsahamnida
ㅎ merges	ㅎ next to ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ turns them into ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ	좋다, to be good	조타	jota
ㄴ + ㄹ	The pair is pronounced as a double l	신라, the Silla kingdom	실라	Silla

Revised Romanization mostly writes the pronounced form, which is why 합니다 appears as hamnida and not "hapnida". That is one more reason to leave romanisation behind quickly: it hides the spelling you actually need.

A realistic one-day plan

Six working hours with breaks, pen and paper, and a chart. Say every syllable aloud while writing it.

Time	What to do	Practice words
Hour 1	The 10 basic vowels with the placeholder ㅇ: 아, 야, 어, 여, 오, 요, 우, 유, 으, 이	아이 ai, child; 우유 uyu, milk; 오이 oi, cucumber
Hour 2	The plain consonants ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ and ㅎ in open syllables	나무 namu, tree; 바다 bada, sea; 어머니 eomeoni, mother; 모자 moja, hat
Hour 3	The aspirated ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ and the five double consonants	커피 keopi, coffee; 토마토 tomato; 피자 pija, pizza; 오빠 oppa, a woman's older brother
Hour 4	Batchim and the seven final sounds	한국 Hanguk, Korea; 김밥 gimbap; 서울 Seoul; 부산 Busan; 사랑 sarang, love
Hour 5	The 11 compound vowels	사과 sagwa, apple; 회사 hoesa, company; 뭐 mwo, what; 의사 uisa, doctor; 네 ne, yes
Hour 6	Loanwords and signs, which reward you instantly	버스 beoseu, bus; 택시 taeksi, taxi; 호텔 hotel; 카페 kape, café; 아이스크림 aiseukeurim, ice cream
Evening	The sound-change table above, then write your own name and install a Korean keyboard

By the evening you will read like a six-year-old with a headache. That is the goal for day one. Fluency in decoding comes from the following two or three weeks of reading something every day.

Typing Hangul

The standard Korean keyboard is called 두벌식 (dubeolsik), "two-set". Consonants sit under the left hand and vowels under the right, so typing alternates hands naturally. You type the letters in spoken order and the computer assembles the blocks: ㅎ, ㅏ, ㄴ becomes 한.

• Double consonants (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ) and the vowels ㅒ and ㅖ are typed with Shift.
• The other compound vowels are typed as two keys: ㅗ then ㅏ gives ㅘ.
• On phones you can choose the same layout or a compact keypad such as 천지인 (cheonjiin), which builds every vowel from three keys.

Add the keyboard in your system's language settings today. Typing is the fastest handwriting practice there is, and it makes dictionary look-ups possible.

Common mistakes

• Staying with romanisation. It feels helpful for a week and then holds you back for months. Cover it up from day two.
• Mixing up ㅓ and ㅗ. Both sound like "o" to English speakers. ㅓ is open and unrounded, ㅗ is rounded. The same goes for ㅡ and ㅜ.
• Releasing final consonants. 밥 (bap, rice) ends with closed lips. Saying "bapuh" adds a syllable that Koreans will hear.
• Reading ㅇ wrongly. Silent at the top of a block, ng at the bottom: 영어 (yeongeo, English) contains both.
• Hearing no difference between ㄱ, ㅋ and ㄲ. Do not wait until you can. Learn the spelling, keep listening, and the contrast arrives on its own schedule.
• Confusing reading with understanding. After one day you can pronounce a menu. Ordering from it requires vocabulary, which Kungfucius regrets is sold separately.

What to do next

1. Read real Korean for ten minutes a day for the next two weeks: shop signs, song titles, snack packaging. Speed is the only thing still missing.
2. Start a beginner course that uses Hangul from the first lesson, such as Talk To Me In Korean.
3. Put your new skill to work on something practical, for example the Korean hotel check-in phrases.
4. If you are wondering what comes after the alphabet, read how hard Korean really is, and keep the TOPIK in mind as a later target.